Don't Count Me Out
by negative 97
Summary: Dmitri is tired of being pushed around by his peers at Unova's prestigious pokemon trainer school, the Battle Academy. With the lowest rank at the school, he's going to have to get new battle tactics and new pokemon. His mom and friends are right there to support him, and his loudmouthed Mienshao, Maris, is right by his side. Can he prove he's truly the best?
1. Chapter 1

Ch. 1

Bitter Beginnings

_Pokemon is the property of its respective owners_

( )= pokemon talk

_Italicized= thoughts_

Dust, rocks, and dirt flew through the air as Maris and her dragon opponent Haxorus were locked together in a bitter battle. She charged at him with a drain punch at the ready while he simply sidestepped the attack and hit her with outrage. She cried out in pain as the attack slammed into her ribs and crashed into the earth with a bone crunching thud. Maris was slow to get up as she clutched at her injured side and let out a yelp when she tenderly touched it.

"(Damn it, I must have gotten a broken rib from that last attack)," Maris thought angrily as she once again was on the ropes.

(You should give up, it's obvious who's going to win this fight and you haven't landed a single blow on me. So I suggest you stay down and don't get up,)" Haxorus thought smugly as he sensed another win to add to his trainer's countless victories.

"(I'll never quit you arrogant piece of crap! Don't underestimate me just because I'm considered a battle rookie pokemon! I'll show you my power by ramming that large head of yours into the cold, hard ground!)" Maris shouted with renewed vigor as she slowly got up to stare down her opponent.

(Vulgar wench, I'll shut you up by knocking around that deflated head of yours!)" Haxorus replied with such anger in his voice that it shook the earth itself.

"Alright Maris lets end this with one final charge. Use drain punch!" Dmitri shouted as he felt victory slipping away, yet again.

"Haxorus, you know what to do, use outrage," Delia said in apathetic tone.

The two pokemon charged at each other, both fists raised, ready to strike the other down. Then the two attacks collided with each other, as the shockwaves of their attacks knocked away debris and even created a small crater. Maris drew back her arm and howled in pain as it went numb from both attacks colliding. Haxorus capitalized on her nurturing her arm and with one final attack, seized her numb arm and slammed her to the ground.

"No, Maris, MARIS!" Dmitri cried as he rushed on the battle field to check on his injured pokemon and friend.

When he reached her, she once again rose to her feet, but her injuries weakened her and she fell on one knee. She coughed up some blood too as she still clutched her numb arm. She saw Dmitri approaching and tried to meet him half way, but collapsed in a heap on the ground.

"Maris are you okay?" Dmitri asked in a worried tone.

"(I have a broken rib, my chest feel like it was torn apart, and I lost all feeling in one of my arms. Yep, I'm doing great,)" Maris replied sarcastically.

"Geez, I was just asking. Don't I have the right to worry when my friend is slammed into the earth?" Dmitri asked while fumbling through his pockets for the max potion he saved the day before.

Dmitri got a max potion out of his pocket and sprayed its contents on her injuries. Maris growled a little when the spray made contact with her skin, but endured it as she knew moving out of the way would waste it. After a few more seconds, she sprung to her feet, practiced by her strikes by throwing some punches in the air at an invisible opponent, and did some jumping jacks.

"Heh, looks like the max potion did its job," Dmitri said with a small smile forming on his face.

"(Well duh, otherwise I'd still be on the ground rolling around in pain)," Maris said flatly. Her attention then shifted to Delia who was approaching them from the torn battle field. Haxorus was walking beside her, anger still evident in his eyes.

"That was a good match Dmitri. Just try not to rely on physical attacks so much. Try to throw in some special attacks in the battle, because you missed out on some great opportunities," Delia said with when she went into "teacher mode".

"(There is no way I'm shaking your hand)," Haxorus seethed.

"(Well good, 'Cause I don't know where that things been)," Maris said with a grin on her face.

"(I don't play with myself Maris,)" Haxorus retorted.

Before she could say more, Dmitri grabbed her hand and started to walk back their home. Dmitri waved goodbye to his friend as he led them both back to their home. She blushed as he took her hand in his, her heart beating a mile a minute at the contact. She quickly hid her arousal and pushed it back down, for now.

Their house more specifically was mansion. Since his mom was a renowned trainer back in the day, she used her prize money to buy herself and her husband their dream house, which was a mansion. Dmitri's dad died a few weeks later on a business trip when his plane to Kanto had engine failure and crashed into the face of the mountain. She knew they arrived when she heard the familiar click of the door opening and the scent of food flooded her nostrils. She allowed herself to lead to the bedroom and then immediately belly flopped onto the bed.

"Hey, scoot over I'm tired too Maris," Dmitri said tiredly.

"(You're tired? I didn't see you fighting an overgrown lizard,)" Maris said right back at her companion as she yanked Dmitri onto the bed.

She then cuddled up to him and fell into a deep sleep. Dmitri was trapped underneath her so he just decided to fall asleep too. It was Sunday so they both needed to get their rest. They did have to go to school tomorrow.

Dmitri's Dreamscape

He and Maris were surrounded by wild pokemon in a barren landscape long deprived of life. He was yanked behind her as she didn't want him to get harmed. It then turned into a gang attack as all of them attacked at once. Dmitri witnessed her getting torn apart and eaten by savage wild pokemon. She was howling in pain as her insides were turned into a buffet for the predators. It was a mess of blood and gore. When he rushed to help her, he felt a sharp pain go through his back. When he looked down at his gut, a green sharp tail had impaled him and the tail furiously wriggled its way out of his gut. He looked into the eyes of his murder and it was a serperior, with bloodshot eyes, scars, and bruises everywhere.

What happened next would terrify him forever. Maris rose back up on her feet, with a slight limp on her bloody leg, and advanced towards him. He could only watch as she approached him. She then seized him by the throat and lifted him up until they were eye level, or where her eyes should have been, his brown eyes meeting her nonexistent ones. With the blood pouring down her face freely, Maris ran her hand over her face and rubbed on Dmitri's terrified one. She then whispered in his ear with a sad, depressing tone;

"You killed me Dmitri. I thought we were friends."

The dream didn't continue as he woke up screaming at the top of his lungs, crying his eyes out.


	2. Chapter 2

Ch.2

Don't Push Me Away

_Pokemon is the property of its respective owners_

Maris woke up instantaneously when she heard her friend screaming at the top of his lungs. She tried to shake him awake and when that didn't work she slapped him with her long fur. Dmitri sat up, nearly knocking her over but she still clung onto him.

"(What happened, why are you crying?)" Maris asked her Dmitri with a worried tone.

"It's nothing, I'm alright. You don't need to worry about it," Dmitri replied while trying to put on a smile on his face.

This explanation didn't convince her one bit as she pulled Dmitri into a hug, his face buried in her chest.

"(Baka, just tell me what happened. I want to help you, but you're making it harder when you avoid the subject,)" Maris said sternly.

Dmitri's mother then burst into the room in her night gown; she was obviously just about to go to bed when she heard her son screaming.

"Dmitri, what happened? Please tell me."

Seeing no other way he told his mother and his pokemon his dream. Both of their eyes went wide when he explained the events of his nightmare. When he finished, he started crying again. Both mother and pokemon comforted him while he continued tearing up. Maris rubbed his head until he fell into a peaceful slumber.

"Thank you Maris. Home life would have been more difficult without you. I don't think I could have juggled being a teacher and raising a kid at the same time," Karen said with sad tone.

"(Yeah, you would have been a wreck without my help,)" Maris replied smugly.

Karen then muttered the word douchebag before returning to her bedroom to go back to sleep. Maris attention then went back to Dmitri and ran her paw through his black hair. She then glanced at the clock on the wall. It was only 3:00 p.m., which meant they had plenty of time before school.

"(Let's get some sleep Dmitri. We wouldn't want to be exhausted when we go to that hellhole in a few hours,)"

Dmitri seemed to agree on this as he slowly drifted back to sleep, tears still evident in his eyes. Maris then started to think about what happened in her best friend's nightmare. Apparently, she attempted to protect him from wild pokemon, but she ended up getting eaten. Dmitri went to go help, but he was stabbed from behind what she assumed to be the leader of the group. What happened next scared her. Apparently, she "rose" from the dead and started to slowly choke the life out her best friend.

She then said that he killed her, which she denied. Her death was at the paws of wild pokemon, not Dmitri. She came to the conclusion that Dmitri watched too much zombie movies and that was the cause of his nightmare. She yawned and stretched her arms and back a little bit before throwing an arm over Dmitri and falling asleep again.

The following morning she woke up to the sound of *RING**RING**RING* from the alarm clock conveniently located on the coffee table near his bed. Why did that darn thing have to be located so near bed? She didn't wait for Dmitri to wake up as she flung it against the wall. She heard the satisfying crack of the alarm clock as it collided with concrete wall.

"Aww, why'd you do that? Now I have to go to the store to buy a new one," Dmitri replied sleepily.

"(Oh come on, it annoys you too. You can't deny that fact,)" Maris said dryly.

"It does, but I still needed it," Dmitri replied sleepily.

"(Don't worry; your mom will buy you a new one later today. If you tell her that is,)" Maris replied while getting out of bed; stretching her body so she wouldn't strain or pull anything during P.E.

Maris still saw that Dmitri was still on his bed; sleeping peacefully and breathing softly. So she decided to end that. Maris gently lowered her head until it was near Dmitri's ear. With that done, she began to state the obvious.

"(Um, Dmitri we still have to go to school today, SO WAKE UP!)" Maris shouted in Dmitri's ear at the top of her lungs.

Dmitri jolted awake instantaneously and held the ear Maris shouted in tenderly. Maris just smirked mischievously at him before she was shoved out of the room.

"(Hey what the heck was that for?!)"

"I'm changing Maris. Besides, having someone stare at me while I'm naked is a little bit creepy," Dmitri said.

Maris, more than anything would love to see the sight of her master naked before her. She then imagined them making out, French kissing even and pushing him on the bed and…

"_(What am I thinking? What if he doesn't share those feelings for me? I don't want him to do anything he doesn't want to do.)"_

She was interrupted from her thoughts when the door suddenly flung open and out stepped her master in his schools uniform. To Maris the school uniform was a tad bit bland; it was just a buttoned up t-shirt with a red tie and formal dress pants. Maris walked up to Dmitri and took his arm in hers and led him down the stairs, with him leading of course. It's not that she couldn't walk down alone, but she liked it when he led them down the stairs. She looked back at saw that he was blushing tomato red on his face. She thought it was cute whenever he did this, but she couldn't let him know that.

So Maris had to hide this and she quickly scrambled in her mind to come up with a smart aleck comment.

"(What's wrong with your face? It isn't even that hot in the house Dmitri,)" she said.

Dmitri didn't even get a chance to reply as his mother shouted at them to stop their flirting and get their butts to the kitchen. The smell of great smelling food invaded their nostrils and both of them quickly made a b-line for the kitchen. They were stopped when a certain green serpent stood in their path, impeding their route to the kitchen.

"(Stop running you two, there's enough food to go around,)" the green snake said with obvious disdain in her voice.

"C'mon Stephanie, were just hungry. You can't stop us from eating," Dmitri replied.

The pretentious green snake that stood in their way happened to be his mom's serperior. After Karen's journey through Unova, she decided to let Stephanie live with her throughout the rest of her life. She was present when Dmitri was born and was like a big sister to Dmitri. Well, she's 28 years old, so of course he considered her this. She was a nanny to him when his mom or dad (when he was still alive) was too busy dealing with other things.

"(Whatever Junior, just get your rear end into the kitchen. Your mom's probably blowing a gasket for having to wait so long for you,)" Stephanie retorted.

Dmitri sighed when she called him Junior. That was a pet name she had bestowed upon him when he could talk and it just stuck for the entire time he knew her. So after eating breakfast, with his mom quizzing him about the pokemon types and abilities, the duo made their way to the Battle Academy, which held all the knowledge of pokemon battling.

Karen sighed as she got ready for work with her teacher uniform. She wanted Dmitri to be a tough battler like her, but she knew that being tough didn't necessarily win battles. She saw that her son had potential, but she knew she wasn't the one to have to bring it out. Karen knew that was something that he had to do on his own. To find out his own battling style to achieve victory.


End file.
